INU -Thursday marked International Women’s Day, an occasion that was acknowledged by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a series of tweets justifying his government’s institutionalized gender discrimination and forced veiling laws for women. Khamenei credited the hijab with preventing women from adopting a “deviant lifestyle” and he railed against Western attitudes about women’s rights, calling them “symbolic of consumerism”.

INU - On Wednesday, it was reported upon an incident that occurred earlier in December when an Iranian weightlifting champion refused to shake the hand of a female medal presenter at an international competition. Physical contact between persons of the opposite gender who are not related is illegal in Iran, and many prominent Iranians have been prosecuted or targeted in state media for violating these restrictions while traveling in foreign countries.

INU - On Tuesday, CNN reported that the imprisoned Iranian-British dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was facing several new charges in the Islamic Republic, which could lead to her extension of her prison sentence from five years to more than 20. Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained at the Tehran airport in April 2016, just as she was about to leave from a visit with her family in Iran. She was accused of national security crimes that have never been fully clarified, but it is suspected that her former employment by the British Broadcasting Company made her a particular target for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has been leading a crackdown on dual nationals and all persons with notable connections to Western countries.

INU - The Iranian parliament, or Majlis, approved President Rouhani’s new cabinet on August 20, 2017. In a step back from his promise to improve civil liberties, including women’s rights, Rouhani’s cabinet is all-male. Although he had claimed that his administration “does not accept gender discrimination and injustice” and promised to appoint at least one woman to his Cabinet, in the end, it was announced that his staff was not able to come up with a list of qualified women.

INU - Women in Iran are treated as second-class citizens. They do not have the rights that they have in most other countries in the world. They have to undergo severe levels of repression and older women are treated just as badly as younger women. Pregnant women are treated the same as women twice their age. The regime has executed women in front of their children. Female activists are jailed for asking for gender equality.